Author
Topic: Cheapskate stories (Read 236573 times)

I remember an episode of Wife Swap where one family was completely obsessed with saving money. Okay, I can give them some credit for getting totally debt free including paying off the mortgage, but once you've paid off said mortgage, I think you could quit timing your kids showers and actually choose a restaurant for some other reason than "kids eat for free." I would have loved to make the mother estimate how much time she spent checking and then rebrushing and reflossing the kids teeth because they were so worried they might have to actually spend money getting a cavity filled. Haven't they heard of dental insurance?

I recently signed up for private lessons at a martial arts academy. It's something that's always interested me, and the private lessons fit best with my schedule as opposed to the group classes. This school advertises a special in which someone who is paying for private lessons can "invite a friend" to join in those lessons for free. The assumption, I suppose, is that the friends will settle splitting the fee between themselves. As long as the martial arts school gets their money, they're happy.

I mentioned to a friend, Carrie, at a social gathering that I had started my lessons, and entertained her with the awkward incidents from my disastrous first session. (It was bad. So very bad. But I had fun.) Another woman, whom I barely know, piped up and said, "Oh! I have always wanted to take the private lessons there, but I can't afford it. The school has that "invite a friend" special. And now you can invite me to join your lessons for free! I'm sure it wouldn't be any trouble."

There are a few problems with this:1) Yes, it would be some trouble. I don't want to take a class at a physical activity at which I am pretty terrible, with someone I barely know. Having the instructor see me stumble through is awkward enough.

2) Don't voluntell me to do something.

3) No. Just, no.

Carrie responded, "So you would split the cost of the lessons with Weeble?"

And the lady looked aghast and said, "Well, no. I told you. I can't afford it. And what's the sense in me paying when Weeble has already paid?"

"So what's in it for Weeble? Other than not getting the instructor's full attention?" Carrie asked.

The lady insisted that I still got the lessons, plus the feeling that I was helping someone.

I shook my head and said, "No, that won't be possible."

This lady simply could not believe that I didn't see the benefit helping this random stranger out by paying for her (not inexpensive) lessons. I was selfish and spoiled, she said, and she didn't want to spend time with selfish people.

My FIL is a cheapskate. If we go out to eat, a mutually arranged dinner, he will never order an appetizer. However, if we order one he will help himself. I just think it is pretty PA for him to do that, especially as every time, we ask first if they (MIL & FIL) want to order an appetizer and most the time we pay or split the check.

People can only take advantage of you if you let them. I think I'd just tell him that unless he wants to pay for that mozzarella stick, to put his hand back.

I say this because I had a college roommate who played the, "Don't be petty. Be nice. After all, it's just one slice of pizza/one mozzarella stick" trick for months. Then one day I totaled up how much I'd spent "being nice" to her and had a meltdown. No more letting her trick me into feeling guilty/cheap. Next time I told her, "If it's no big deal, then you pay for it." Suddenly, she didn't want that food any more.

My FIL is a cheapskate. If we go out to eat, a mutually arranged dinner, he will never order an appetizer. However, if we order one he will help himself. I just think it is pretty PA for him to do that, especially as every time, we ask first if they (MIL & FIL) want to order an appetizer and most the time we pay or split the check.

People can only take advantage of you if you let them. I think I'd just tell him that unless he wants to pay for that mozzarella stick, to put his hand back.

I say this because I had a college roommate who played the, "Don't be petty. Be nice. After all, it's just one slice of pizza/one mozzarella stick" trick for months. Then one day I totaled up how much I'd spent "being nice" to her and had a meltdown. No more letting her trick me into feeling guilty/cheap. Next time I told her, "If it's no big deal, then you pay for it." Suddenly, she didn't want that food any more.

In high school, we had small round tables in the cafeteria that could seat 8-10 students. There was a guy who sat near my group of friends (6 to 8 of us, depending on the day) at lunch. And he always wanted "JUST a few fries" or "JUST a handful of chips" or "JUST a bite" of your grilled cheese. And if you said no, he got highly offended as it was JUST a bite. And weren't we his friends? Friends SHARED what they had, he said, and if we didn't understand that, we would never have any real friends. We got sick of being made to feel greedy for wanting to eat our whole lunch, but couldn't figure out how to dislodge this tick without being mean. Our group sort of disbanded and found other places to sit because we just got sick of dealing with it.

A woman I'll call Thelma was a bit of a Cheapskate but this story is about Thelma's friend, Louise.

Thelma was trying to lose quite a bit of weight for her son's Wedding and was on a rather strict diet that included a lot of fresh fruit. Everything had to be carefully weighed or measured. For example, Thelma's lunch might consist of six crackers, a cup of cottage cheese, eighteen grapes and a few orange sections.

Louise was in the habit of sitting with Thelma while she ate lunch and idly nibbling on the crackers or the fruit. Thelma was incensed because Louise could go to the museum cafe and get anything she wanted to eat. This was not an appetizer. This was Thelma's entire lunch.

Louise was equally incensed. A friend should be happy to share and, after all, it was only a few crackers and some fruit.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Whole Foods and bought a large apple tart for my mom. I was meeting her and my sister and brother for lunch; they drove in from the valley, a little more than an hour away from me. Mom has always loved apples and pie so I figured this would be great. Normally, their large fruit tarts are in the $27-$29 range but I was thrilled to find that morning they were on sale at $20 apiece. I bought the one and eyed (with lust) the blueberry one. After the luncheon date I realized that I still had that blueberry tart on my mind so I stopped on the way home and bought it. Ate two slices over the next two days. It was good, but I found it wasn't what I was expecting so on Monday morning I decided to take the rest into the office.

It was a huge hit. I was happy to share it and glad others liked it. I explained that though I can bake quite well I had bought this at WF. But ... this one Cheapskate told me not just how good it was but that I was "welcome" to bring in baked goods as often as I could because everyone there loved them. I looked at her for a moment--this is the woman who ate through an entire gallon of ice cream that had been brought in for the admin staff--then said "I cannot afford to just give away food." She hasn't asked since but good golly ... try to respect others' time and money.

My FIL is a cheapskate. If we go out to eat, a mutually arranged dinner, he will never order an appetizer. However, if we order one he will help himself. I just think it is pretty PA for him to do that, especially as every time, we ask first if they (MIL & FIL) want to order an appetizer and most the time we pay or split the check.

People can only take advantage of you if you let them. I think I'd just tell him that unless he wants to pay for that mozzarella stick, to put his hand back.

I say this because I had a college roommate who played the, "Don't be petty. Be nice. After all, it's just one slice of pizza/one mozzarella stick" trick for months. Then one day I totaled up how much I'd spent "being nice" to her and had a meltdown. No more letting her trick me into feeling guilty/cheap. Next time I told her, "If it's no big deal, then you pay for it." Suddenly, she didn't want that food any more.

Being unemployed or involuntarily retired has made FIL worse. We only have dinner with them every other month and since DH and I rarely eat out, we enjoy a few appetizers at these shared dinners, which we pay for entirely. Next time, I think I am going to recommend they order their own appetizer, as three adults (DS eats more than I do) sharing one appetizer is one thing, but five adults sharing one is pushing it.

In high school, we had small round tables in the cafeteria that could seat 8-10 students. There was a guy who sat near my group of friends (6 to 8 of us, depending on the day) at lunch. And he always wanted "JUST a few fries" or "JUST a handful of chips" or "JUST a bite" of your grilled cheese. And if you said no, he got highly offended as it was JUST a bite. And weren't we his friends? Friends SHARED what they had, he said, and if we didn't understand that, we would never have any real friends.

"When's the last time you shared something with us?"

Sadly, I wouldn't have been smart enough to come up with that on the spot back in high school.

The other side of the equation, of course, is the person who is genuinely happy to share their own stuff as well as wanting to partake of yours. If you don't want what they have you might still feel guilty about not wanting to share your own, but in that case the guilt makes at least some sense. But if someone is all gung-ho to share your stuff but not their own, they're just a moocher and need to be kicked to the curb.

We're planning a camping trip, and it reminded me of a great cheapskate story.

A couple of "friends" asked us to take them up to a great little place about 6 or 7 hours from home (some on ferries). They offered to pay "at least" half. DH & I drove, paid for food, ferries and camping fees. They borrowed a bunch of equipment. We told them the costs would be around $100.00 EACH for gas, food and lodging.

They were responsible for their day-to-day essentials and any luxuries they may need (Personal toiletry, alcohol, entertainment, etc.) When we got there they wanted to "share" our beer and pay us back. They didn't have sunscreen or toothpaste or soap. Or an extra blanket/groundsheet. They didn't bring cutlery or crockery. They did bring hairspray, gel, makeup, a double air-mattress (no pump), a broom and a giant portable stereo, among other things.

We had to go to town a few times because they wanted fries and more beer.

After all was said and done, their half (not including "shared" beer and tp, etc.,) was about $230. He gave us $225.

The next day she called and said she was doing the math in her head and it didn't add up. She figured the 100 was good enough for both, and she thought we should give back at least the other 100, but the whole 130 would be better, since they had to buy food and stuff too. I told her she was welcome to come examine the receipts, but if she did I would charge her half of what we actually spent, rather than the rough estimate we'd worked out to be done with it.

I guess she look some things up because we never heard another word about it.

The next day she called and said she was doing the math in her head and it didn't add up. She figured the 100 was good enough for both, and she thought we should give back at least the other 100, but the whole 130 would be better, since they had to buy food and stuff too. I told her she was welcome to come examine the receipts, but if she did I would charge her half of what we actually spent, rather than the rough estimate we'd worked out to be done with it.

I guess she look some things up because we never heard another word about it.

Miss Tickle, I would be shocked at the audacity of your 'friends' except I'm starting to wonder if cheapskates also don't realize what things cost. My brother is not a cheapskate but he can be a little cheap. I remember him telling me that going to Disney World is not as expensive as I was making it out to be.

Now mind you, we lived a couple hours from Disney growing up and he only went with myself and our parents. I was talking about going to Disney from out-of-state, motels, gas, tickets for four persons, etc. He only remembered going with our parents footing the bill for everything. When I explained it would be $2000 for a week, he was shocked -shocked, I tell you! Those were the prices from over 10 years ago, anyway.